Willa Wyatt, committee chair, opened the meeting at approximately 10 am.

Rosenwald Scholars Jonee Taylor and Traci Jo Morgan reported that they had been to an Oral History conference in Denver CO. Caroline Twiggs reported that each of the Rosenwald Scholars had been paired with an alternate site, so that they could get enough hours to fulfill their obligation to the grant which funds their positions.

Pauline Cheek said she had attempted to start oral history interviews, but could not get the recorder she borrowed from Mars Hill College to work. Teresa Buckner recommended that the committee purchase a recorder for this purpose. Teresa said she would locate some recorders on line and send links to the committee members.

Simone Bouyer has completed the website and it is online. She took the members on a “virtual tour” of the website. She also said she would send a link for a “drop box,” to the committee members, so that they can send her additional or new text, videos or photos for the website.

Willa reported that she is trying to plan a joint meeting between the ARC and the Madison County Rotary Club on March 8. Both groups can then listen to a presentation from Carol Shields, who works with the Hamilton Rosenwald project near the coast of N.C.

Willa said each sub-committee needs to put together a short narrative about its particular work to use in future grant applications.

Scott Donald reported that the renovation itself is in a “holding pattern.” He said he feels the drawings he has done for the renovation are “90% correct” in terms of historical accuracy. He hopes the planned field trips to other completed Rosenwald schools can provide the other 10% of historic accuracy.

There were additional discussions, including the possibility of asking about a permanent kiosk dealing with the Anderson Rosenwald School in MHC’s Rural Life Museum when renovation is completed on that building. Simone offered to do a brochure about the project that would be consistent with the colors and imagery used on the website. She will plan to bring a draft of that brochure to a future meeting.

The next meeting of the Rosenwald Project Planning Committee was planned for Friday, January 13, 2012, at 10 am at Mars Hill College.